Very interesting reading Linda's ques and the answers that followed.
I'm interested in making a documentary but am quite unfamiliar with
the process to completion. There are - like with everything in life
many ways to IT - any rough guides out there on docu making and the
steps involved?

The Art of Reality is worth checking out (the site has a sample
chapter you can read), and Weise's The Independent Filmmakers Guide to
Film & Video (or something like that) is a very valuable general film
book that applies to docs.

My name is Ron Franscell. I am a published novelist and newspaperman.
My second novel has been sold to film; my first has been optioned. I
worked on both scripts, and now I am striking off on my own with a
documentary project (as writer only) and an original feature script.

Welcome to The D-Word, Ron. Care to share with folks here what the
doc project is about? Always curious what attracts media
professionals (ie. people who should know better) to try their hand
with a documentary ;-)

Well, BECAUSE I am an alleged media professional (they're withholding
my union card until I learn to mainline black coffee)I was asked to
be part of a documentary about Butte, Montana. Yeah, yeah, my
reaction at the time was about the same as yours when your read that.
But it turns out this place is a metaphor for the American West, a
place where exploitation, diversity, bawdiness, violence, wealth,
culture, sex and the landscape intersected ... like a train wreck.

Doug kindly answered a beginner's questions, so now I know enough to
be dangerous. That's all.

Fortruanetly, I've published two successful novels and written a
couple screenplays, so I have a vague sense of story structure. I am
eager to see how it's done in this "new-to-me" medium. I look forward
to chatting with all of you.

Hello everyone, my name is Tony Esposito and I'm in the middle of a
midlife career change. Do to 2 back operations I had to end my career
as a master automobile tech. I have been taping weddings as a side
line and also produced some small corporate videos. When I had to
change careers, I decided to go to school and get into video
production full time. I'm currently working on a documentary on the
growth of Charlotte NC, and how it effects the quality of life. I'm
also editing some works that will be shown at The Museum of the New
South. I'm so glad I found this site and hope to learn from it and
interact with the members.

Hey, Tony, welcome to The D-Word. Guess what, I do weddings, too.
Edit in-the-camera, feature-length docs of the wedding day. It's one
of the ways I stake my independence and make docs of my own choosing.
It actually got me out of shooting corporate videos -- it's more
satisfying and I make a lot more $$$$.

Hi Doug, it is a very interesting way to make money and support my
other interests. I like the fact that each wedding is an event and
anything can happen. You have to be on your toes and ready for
something to happen that wasn't expected.
I have always thought that taping weddings was making a small
documentary of an event in ones life. The way the families of the
bride and groom interact is always interesting. Did they approve of
the wedding or was this wedding taking place because the bride was
expecting a little something. Great stuff to tape.
Take care,
Tony Esposito

John D. sneaking back in after an all too long absence. You don't
want to know/hear the LP version of what's been going on in my real
life, but the Readers' Digest version has me switching jobs and
moving from Texas to North Carolina.

After year away from the technical side of things, I'll be back
teaching production classes again. With any luck I'll get to teach a
16mm class in the near future, otherwise it's Mini DV and the Media
100. All of which means I will once again be checking into D-Word on
a regular basis.

Hi y'all,finally checking into the D-word "BBS".
I make independent documentaries, "The Shvitz" about the
Russian baths and "My Friend Paul" about my childhood friend,
the bank robber. Recently I did a "work-for-hire", the show
Maternity Ward for the Learning Channel (now known as TLC).

Funding for my films comes from foundations and TV; "Paul" got
a good wallop from ITVS, who gave completion funding. Now
making a new film about the ideals and impact of the 1960's.

Hello everyone. I am a newbie doc producer in the process of editing
my very first doc, a very short topic on sailing windmills (a type of
small one-design racing boat). I am doing this in preparation for
doing a longer project on gay and lesbian parents. I am located in
Columbus, Ohio, where there is a great community called the Columbus
Film Consortium (http://www.thecfc.org).

Hi Everyone. I'm a producer/director in post production on three
one-hour docs right now. Two for Oxygen Network, and one
independent.

The independent is about a sex worker/photogrpher who breaks
into the art world with black and white photos of her male client's
genitalia. The film also examines her relationships with a
long-time client, her live-in boyfriend, and friends. I'm close to
having a rough-cut and am looking for completion funds.

So...male frontal nudity.... Where does this doc belong? HBO?
Showtime? Or is it just a festival film? Will ITVS even consider it
for public TV? Will POV broadcast male frontal nudity? I called
PBS in Virgina but they are not repsonding.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated.
this site is a great idea. wish I had found it before.

For those of you who are just visiting the public D-Word conference,
you might have noticed a bunch of new registrants to The D-Word
Community accidentally post their intros in the public conference. You
can generally tell by their level of experience. Nothing wrong with
that, just trying to explain if you're confused.

Greetings, all! I am a television producer and journalist writing a
story for Cable World magazine (a weekly trade) on documentaries on
cable. Would love to hear your experiences pitching cable nets, and
to get a feeling for which networks are great to work with, which
ones aren't, is it getting easier to find a home for your docs with
the proliferation of digital channels ... ? Any and all thoughts
welcome! cheers, Shirley Brady (sbrady@mediacentral.com)